B
It was a warm April day when a big fat envelope came in the mail from the only college I had ever imagined attending. I tore open the packet. My eyes were fixed on the word "congratulations". I don't remember ever smiling so wide.
Then I looked at my financial (财政的) package. The cost of Dream School's tuition( 学费), room and board was around. $40,000—an impossible sum! How could I afford to attend? What good reasons did I have to go there when three other fine colleges were offering me free tuition? My other choices were good, solid schools even if they weren't as famous as my first choice.
In my mind, attending my dream university would be the only way to realize my dream of becoming a world-class writer. My parents understood how I felt. They told me that even though it would be a financial problem, I could go wherever I would be happiest. But as I was always careful with money, I wasn't sure what to do.
One of the schools that offered me a full ride had an informational dinner one night in the spring. Considering my parents' financial difficulties, I decided to drive the 45 minutes and attend. At first, all I’d planned to do was smile politely, eat free food, listen quietly. But I surprised myself.
At dinner the president of the university talked about the wonderful, activities on campus ( 校园 ) including guest lectures and social gatherings. He also made it perfectly clear that free food would be offered at all future events. He continued with explanations of professors, class sizes, activities, and sporting events on campus. As he spoke, I began to realize that this school, though not as good as my first choice, might be the best one for me. It seemed small yet with many great programs. It seemed challenging yet caring.
As the president ended his speech, we clapped politely and pushed back our chairs. As I walked out that door, a feeling of to comfort washed over me. Looking at the campus that night, I realized that I would be spending the next four years right there.
In all honesty, my university is not as well-known as my "dream" university. However, it turned out to be the right choice of schools for me.
62. How did he author feel when he started to read the letter?
A. He was full of joy. B. He was lost in his dream.
C. He was worried about the money D. He was uncertain which school to go.
63. We can learn from the passage that the parents were_______.
A. honest. B. strict C. supportive D. decisive
64. In Paragraph 5, "offered me a full ride" can be replaced by "______".
A. would pay for transport to the school
B. would show me around the campus
C. would offer free meals at all events
D. would charge me nothing for tuition
65. What does the author mainly want to say?
A. Your second-choice college may actually be your best fit.
B. You should consider comfort in your choice of schools.
C. You should try your best to attend your dream school.
D. Your choice of schools should be based on their fame.
America is a mobile society. Friendships between Americans can be close and real, yet disappear soon if situations change. Neither side feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while — then no more. If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up the friendship. This can be quite difficult for us Chinese to understand, because friendships between us flow more slowly but then may become lifelong feelings, extending (延伸) sometimes deeply into both families.
Americans are ready to receive us foreigners at their homes, share their holidays, and their home life. They will enjoy welcoming us and be pleased if we accept their hospitality (好客) easily.
Another difficult point for us Chinese to understand Americans is that although they include us warmly in their personal everyday lives, they don’t show their politeness to us if it requires a great deal of time. This is usually the opposite of the practice in our country where we may be generous with our time. Sometimes, we, as hosts, will appear at airports even in the middle of the night to meet a friend. We may take days off to act as guides to our foreign friends. The Americans, however, express their welcome usually at homes, but truly can not manage the time to do a great deal with a visitor outside their daily routine. They will probably expect us to get ourselves from the airport to our own hotel by bus. And they expect that we will phone them from there. Once we arrive at their homes, the welcome will be full, warm and real. We will find ourselves treated hospitably.
For the Americans, it is often considered more friendly to invite a friend to their homes than to go to restaurants, except for purely business matters. So accept their hospitality at home!Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Friendships between Americans usually extend deeply into their families. |
| B．Friendships between Americans usually last for all their lives. |
| C．Americans always show their warmth even if they are very busy. |
| D．Americans will continue their friendships again even after a long break. |
From the last two paragraphs we can learn that when we arrive in America to visit an American friend, we will probably be ______.
| A．warmly welcomed at the airport | B．offered a ride to his home |
| C．treated hospitably at his home | D．treated to dinner in a restaurant |
The underlined words “generous with our time” in Paragraph 3 probably mean ______.
| A．strict with time | B．willing to spend time |
| C．careful with time | D．serious with time |
A suitable title for this passage would probably be “______”.
| A．Friendships between Chinese |
| B．Friendships between Americans |
| C．Americans’ hospitality |
| D．Americans’ and Chinese’s views of friendship |
Never go into a supermarket hungry! This is a good piece of advice. If you go shopping for food before lunchtime, you’ll probably buy more than you plan to. Unfortunately, however, just this advice isn’t enough for consumers (消费者) these days. Modern shoppers need an education in how and how not to buy things at the store. First, you check the weekly newspaper ads. Find out the items that are on sale and decide if you really need these things. In other words, don’t buy anything just because it’s cheaper than usual! “New and Improved!” or “All Natural” on the front of a package influence you. Instead, read the list of ingredients (配方) on the back. Third, compare prices: that is, you should examine the prices of both different brands and different sizes of the same brand.
Another suggestion for consumers is to buy ordinary items instead of famous brands. Ordinary items in supermarkets come in plain packages (普通包装). These products are cheaper because producers don’t spend much money on packing or advertising. The quality, however, is usually as good as the quality of well-known name brands. In the same way, in buying clothes, you can often find high quality and low prices in brands that are not famous. Shopping in discount clothing stores can help you save a lot of money. Although these stores aren’t very attractive, and they usually do not have individual dressing rooms, not only are the prices low, but you can often find the same famous brands that you find in high-priced department stores.
Wise consumers read magazine ads and watch TV commercials, but they do this with one advantage: knowledge of the psychology (心理) behind the ads. In other words, well-informed consumers watch for information and check for misinformation. They ask themselves questions: Is the advertiser hiding something in small print at the bottom (底部) of the page? Is there any real information in the commercial, or is the advertiser simply showing an attractive image? With the answers to these questions, consumers can make a wise choice.All the following statements are true about the phrase “ordinary items” in Paragraph 2 except ________.
| A．ordinary products are usually cheaper than famous brands |
| B．producers spend less money on packaging of ordinary items |
| C．ordinary items never say “New and Improved” or “All Natural” |
| D．the quality of ordinary items is usually as good as that of famous brands |
What does the writer think about ads?
| A．They are believable. | B．They are attractive. |
| C．They are helpful to consumers. | D．They are full of misinformation. |
One of the author’s suggestions to consumers is ________.
| A．to make use of ads |
| B．to buy only ordinary items instead of famous brands |
| C．to buy high quality items such as famous brands after lunch |
| D．not to buy items with words like “New and Improved” or “All Natural” |
The author implies(暗示) that _________.
| A．ads sometimes don’t tell the truth |
| B．discount clothing stores are good places to go to |
| C．going into the supermarket hungry, you may buy less than you plan to |
| D．the quality of ordinary items is usually higher and the prices are relatively lower. |
Trip 1 Black Bear Count
There have been fires in this area in the last few years and the Office of the National Park is not sure how many black bears are still living. Some bears have been seen since the fires, and the Office has asked for young people to help count them.
The entire trip will last three hours. Bookings necessary.
Cost: Free When: May 8
Trip 2 Garland Valley
Bring your drink and lunch for this walk in a beautiful area of the Blue Mountains. Garland Valley is close to the town of Garland but is part of the National Park. Many wild animals live in this area, including many rare birds. This is a great walk for bird-lovers. The trip lasts four hours. Bookings necessary.
Cost: ＄ 15 When: May 8, May 15
Trip 3 Flashlight Adventure
Put on your warm clothes, bring a flashlight and a pair of glasses, and come for a night walk along the Dungog Valley. A guide will lead the tour. Many of the animals you will see on this trip can only be seen at night. The guide will tell you about the lives of the animals you see. Numbers are strictly limited on night trips, so be sure to book early. This walk lasts two and a half hours.
Cost: ＄ 12 When: May 8, May 15, May 22
Equipment to be needed:
· Please bring enough water and food for all walks.
· Wear good walking shoes--no high heels.
· Wear a hat for day walks.
· Dress warmly for night walks.
· Children must be with an adult.
· Make sure your flashlight works well and bring extra batteries for night walks.
· Follow all instructions from guides during the walks. The mountains are a dangerous place.
Bookings:
Bookings for the above trips can be done by telephone (893 - 4847) or on the Internet at (www. Bluemountaintour.com)Where are these trips?
| A．In a large city. | B．In a park in the mountains. |
| C．In a special zoo. | D．In three different countries. |
Which of the following is NOT necessary for the three trips?
| A．A sleeping bag. | B．A pair of glasses. |
| C．Food and water. | D．Good walking shoes. |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．Adventure Travel in America |
| B．Hunting around the Great Mountains |
| C．Discovery Trips in the Blue Mountains |
| D．Interesting Trips in the East of the USA |
I was very disappointed not to be able to go to the jazz（爵士音乐） concert last Friday. The advertisement（广告） in the paper said that you could buy tickets at the theatre box in Richland Hills any day between 10:00 and 4:00.Since I work from 9:00 to 5:30, the only time I could go to the theatre was during my 45-minute lunch break. Unluckily, the theatre is on the other side of the town, and the bus service between my office and Richland Hills is not very good. But if you are lucky, you can make the round（往返的） trip in 45 minutes. Last Monday, I stood at the bus stop for fifteen minutes waiting for the bus. By the time I saw one come around the corner, there was not enough time left to make the trip. So I gave up and went back to the office. The same thing happened on Tuesday, and again the next day. On Thursday, my luck changed. I got on a bus right away and arrived at the theatre in exactly twenty minutes. When I got there, however, I found a long line of people at the office. I heard one man say he had been waiting in line for over an hour. Realizing I would not have enough time to wait in line, I caught the next bus and headed back（奔回） across the town. By Friday I realized my only hope was to make the trip by taxi. It was expensive, but I felt it would be worth it to hear the concert. The trip by taxi only took 10 minutes, but it felt like an hour to me. When I got to the theatre, I was relieved to see that nobody was waiting in line. The reason, however, I quickly discovered, was that they had already sold all the tickets.The man learned that there would be a concert last Friday ________.
| A．from his friends | B．from one of his workmates |
| C．over the radio | D．from the newspaper |
One day the man took________ to get to the theatre by bus.
| A．forty-five minutes | B．fifteen minutes |
| C．just twenty minutes | D．over an hour |
The underlined word “relieved” may best be replaced by“________”.
| A．worried | B．pleased | C．puzzled | D．sorry |
The writer mainly shows us his________.
| A．enjoyment of the concert | B．anger for buying the ticket |
| C．efforts to buy the ticket | D．disappointment at the concert |
All around the world, shoppers flock to Wal-Mart to buy everything. In Texas, they come for another reason: to see the wind turbine（涡轮机）, which supplies 5% of the store’s electricity. It along with other facilities, such as exterior walls coated with heat-reflective paint, makes this Wal-Mart a green giant.
The laws of economics suggest that Wal-Mart, with 5, 200 stores worldwide, influences everything including the price of all kinds of goods. It throws its weight behind environmental responsibility, and the impact could be amazing. “One little change in product packaging could save 1, 500 trees,” says Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott．“If everybody saves 1, 500 trees or 50 barrels of oil, at the end of the day you have made a huge difference.”
Scott wants Wal-Mart to do its part too. He has promised to cut the existing greenhouse-gas emissions（排放）over the next few years and promised to construct new stores that are more efficient. He wants Wal-Mart’s fleet of more than 7, 000 trucks to get twice as many miles per gallon by 2015. Factories that show Wal-Mart they’re cutting air pollution will get preferential treatment in the supply chain. Wal-Mart says it’s working with consumer-product manufacturers to reduce their packaging and will reward them if they do so.
Some people may doubt it is a bid to attract attention from Wal-Mart’s controversial labor and health-insurance practices. But it’s not just window dressing, because Wal-Mart sees profits in going green. Scott says, “This is a business philosophy, not a social philosophy. We don’t go where we don’t think there’s a great interest in change.”
Like Bill Gates, who started his charitable foundation, Scott happens to be promoting Wal-Mart’s image at a time when his company’s reputation is declining. He acknowledges that he launched the plan partly to shield （保护）Wal-Mart from bad press about its contribution to global warming. “By doing what we’re doing today, we avoid the headline risks that are going to come for people who did not do anything,” he says. “At some point businesses will be held responsible for the action they take.” Meanwhile, should Wal-Mart succeed in shrinking its environmental footprint and lowering prices for green products, both the planet and the company will profit. We can infer from the passage that ______.
| A．Lee Scott is Wal-Mart’s CEO |
| B．there are 5, 200 stores in the world |
| C．Wal-Mart has a great influence on the world market |
| D．Wal-Mart has more than 7, 000 trucks all over the world |
What will Wal-Mart probably do in the future?
| A．Reduce air pollution in its present stores. |
| B．Give favorable treatment to its consumers. |
| C．Ask the factories to reduce their packaging. |
| D．Demand the fleet of trucks to use more fuel than before. |
What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
| A．Provide the background of the green plan. |
| B．Stress the purpose of Wal-Mart’s green plan. |
| C．Present the risk that Wal-Mart is facing nowadays. |
| D．Analyze the similarity between Bill Gates and Scott. |
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